Democracy & Human Rights

Democracy & Human Rights

The democratisation processes in the Great Lakes region face many political and security obstacles and tensions, particularly around the organization of electoral cycles. EurAc develops its expertise and conducts advocacy work urging the EU to enhance its policies in defense of the rule of law, the good governance and the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

In its new report Democratic processes and political stalemate in the Great Lakes region: For a stronger engagement of the European Union in Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda published today on the occasion of the public conference organised at the European Parliament on the same theme, the European Network for Central Africa (EurAc) highlights the different political and security crises linked to democratic processes, including electoral processes, in each of the three countries of the Great Lakes region in Africa, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda as well as proposes several recommendations and lines of action for the European Union (EU) to further strengthen its commitment to good governance, the rule of law and democracy in these countries and the region.

In light of the worsening political and security crisis in the DRC, EurAc calls on European Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the High Representative of the EU Federica Mogherini, to take concrete steps to prevent a further escalation of violence and new abuses in the DRC. At the Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 6 March, the EU declared its intention to “adopt new individual restrictive measures against those responsible for serious human rights violations or for incitement to violence and those who would obstruct a consensual and peaceful solution to the crisis, one that respects the aspiration of the people of the DRC to elect their representatives”. EurAc believes that it is time to turn words into action, this declaration into a decision to apply new targeted sanctions.

As the European Foreign Affairs Ministers are due to discuss the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the next Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 6 March 2017, the European Network for Central Africa (EurAc) strongly believes that a second round of European Union (EU) targeted sanctions (travel ban and asset freeze) against senior political and security actors, closer to the inner circle of President Joseph Kabila and responsible for human rights abuse as well as for the violent crackdown on dissident voices and for undermining the democratic process, would be useful to increase the pressure on DRC officials to find a solution to the political and security crisis.

With this new position statement, the European network for Central Africa (EurAc) wishes to draw the attention of European political decision-makers, at all levels of power, to the gravity and the risks of the situation in the DRC.

Three months from the holding of legislative and local elections in Burundi (on 26 May 2015), which will be followed by presidential elections (26 June) amongst others, and numerous concerns persist about the democratic nature of the entire electoral process. On this occasion, EurAc would like to reiterate that "only the organisation of an inclusive, transparent and peaceful electoral process would enable the country, which is still in a post-conflict situation, to overcome the political deadlock caused by the 2010 electoral process". This is why, taking into account certain developments that have taken place in the last few weeks, the European Union and its Member States must continue to closely monitor the pre-election, election and post-election situation, if necessary strengthening their political dialogue with the Burundian authorities.

This memorandum presents an analysis of the regional challenges and specific challenges for each of the three countries (DRC, Burundi & Rwanda), which the EU must take into consideration in order to effectively and sustainably support peace and democracy in Central Africa. This analysis is supplemented by recommendations addressed to the various competent European political decision-makers.